Dolce and Gabana Make-up Ad

The celebrated sexy, starlet Scarlet Johansen is the poster-face for the new Dolce and Gabana make-up collection. In order to sell a cosmetic product that can make women more beautiful, Dolce and Gabana presents Scarlet as a passive woman upholding oppressive beauty ideals. In this ad, she is poised lying down in a childlike position, with her plump air brushed lips open, and cleavage apparent. In my opinion, Scarlet epitomizes the “beauty ideal.” She is “thin, lean, tall, young, white, and hyper sexual with flawless skin and well-groomed hair" (Kirk 208). One can assume that the ad is sexist; it objectifies Scarlet as a sexual or beauty object. It is racist, in that it only reflects the interests of white women. Naturalness and diversity are ignored in this presentation of beauty.
The ad does not show any of the cosmetic products Dolce and Gabana is piloting. Instead the ad is selling Scarlet’s beauty. It is important to note that this is a cosmetic ad, and cosmetics are supposed to fix the natural flaws of women. Furthermore, this ad achieves the oppressive goals of beauty ideals, “to promote insecurity, self hatred and distorted perceptions of size, appetite, and attractiveness, so that we [women] will consume the countless products, diet plans, and cosmetic surgeries marketed to remedy our [women’s] alleged deficiencies”(Kirk 208).
In my opinion this ad is another declaration of society’s definition of feminine beauty, a fabricated illusion of females. The woman depicted in this ad is not smiling. She does not look like any of the women I have ever met. I don’t even think Scarlet woke up looking as preciously unblemished as she is presented in this ad. It’s amazing to note how unrealistic this ad is. And yet, ordinary women who come in different shades and sizes should be convinced to buy Dolce and Gabana’s makeup or in other words, aim to look like a Scarlet Johansen!
Even if she was not denaturalized, I wonder what kind of perfectionist message this ad is presenting. I guess women should strive to look like Scarlet and buy the best make-up money could buy, Dolce and Gabana’s advertising pitch. I begin to wonder the immense pressure and expectations this preeminent model of beauty would have on women. At a micro level, a woman could find this ad as another oppressive tool. She could look in the mirror, find that she does not look like Scarlet Johansen and possibly conclude that she is ugly to society’s standards of beauty. I conclude that at a macro level, media executives, economics, and notions of patriarchy are prevalent in this ad. In particular, I imagine the advertising executives of Dolce and Gabana’ deliberately choosing a woman that was not ordinary to sell a product to ordinary women, perpetuating the unattainably beauty myth.
The ad does nothing to appeal to women who are not white, thin, young, flawless, or hypersexual. The truth is most women will never look like Scarlet Johansen and because of this ad they may not value their individual beauty. Dolce and Gabana markets this beautification product, which exceeds the reality of ordinary women. Indeed, this ad is a negative representation of women.
Kirk, Gwyn. Women's Lives: multicultural perspectives
5th ed.